Roy Hargrove

Roy Hargrove, whose quintet played at Ambassador Ambassador on Thursday, is one of a number of young trumpeters who have invariably been hailed as the next Dizzy or the next Miles. Like Terence Blanchard and others in this group, Hargrove is equipped with exceptional technique, along with a powerful tone and attack. But his performance Thursday failed to live up to the expected high level because he seemed a little too determined to please the audience at all costs.

After several albums, trumpeter Roy Hargrove still hasn't lived up to his promise. Where's the trailblazer who was so dazzling on his first album in 1990? That Hargrove certainly didn't show up Tuesday at Catalina. Nothing he played, with a group featuring tenor saxman Ron Blake and pianist Marc Carey, showed that spark of originality that was so prominent in his work a few years ago. At times Hargrove fell short on two fronts--tonal interest and continuity.

Though his album "Habana" won him a Grammy just days ago for best Latin jazz performance, trumpeter Roy Hargrove played nothing from that recording, or any Latin jazz for that matter, when he opened a four-day run Thursday at the Jazz Bakery. Instead, with a newly configured sextet, the 29-year-old trumpeter wowed a near-capacity crowd with sometimes obscure jazz tunes, a pair of ballads and updates of Hargrove originals recorded five and more years back.

Roy Hargrove, the Texas-born trumpeter whose quintet opened Tuesday at Catalina, has his horn pointed in the right direction. That is to say, he aims at a career in uncompromising contemporary jazz. At 22, Hargrove, who continues through Sunday, has developed enough technique and fluency to impress the casual listener.

Even on an off night, trumpeter Roy Hargrove is a step up from such acclaimed young-generation trumpet players as Marcus Printup and Nicholas Payton. And Hargrove had an off night Saturday at the Veterans Wadsworth Theater. His usually precise articulation was not as crisp as it's been on record or in previous local appearances. He seemed tentative at times when reaching into the upper register of his instrument.

Talk about pound-for-pound power: Trumpeter Roy Hargrove may be small and compact in size, but his playing explodes with the force and energy of a solid heavyweight. On Tuesday at Catalina Bar & Grill, in the opening set of a six-night run, the 29-year-old Hargrove, one of the first of the young jazz lions of the '90s, delivered one impressive solo after another.

The first sounds emanating from the stage at the Cerritos Center on Wednesday easily could have been mistaken for the soundtrack of a '50s science fiction movie. Bloops, bleeps, whirs and thumps suggested the imminent arrival of Dr. Morbius and the cast of "Forbidden Planet." But it was Herbie Hancock who was producing most of the atmospheric clatter -- from a laptop computer -- aided by saxophonist Michael Brecker, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington.

The Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, which boasts Grammy winners Norah Jones, Erykah Badu and Roy Hargrove among its graduates, has received a $10-million donation from Dallas philanthropist Nancy Hamon. Hamon's donation will go toward a new 170,000-square-foot building. The school, designed to hold 400 students, has about 733 students enrolled, Dallas schools Superintendent Mike Moses said. From Associated Press